When it dawned the next day, Zhang He had already captured Linhu City and was only one step away from the Lujiang River. However, Zhang He did not immediately order the march to the Lujiang River, but instead stationed himself in Linhu City. Although Zhang He was also eager to make contributions, and
He is also very likely to be the first to arrive at Lujiang City, but he knows better that as Yuan Shu's hometown, Lujiang City is definitely not as strong as Xiang'an or Linhu. Zhang He needs to let the tired
The soldiers took a short rest and waited for the arrival of large siege equipment such as trebuchets.
It was only then that Yuan Shu received news of Liu Xin's invading army. Originally, Liang Gang sent a messenger for help and arrived at Lujiang last night. But Yuan Shu has now proclaimed himself emperor, and the rules are not as big as usual. The messenger wanted to meet him at night
It was impossible to reach Yuan Shu, so we had to wait outside the palace gate until dawn.
When he learned that Liu Xin's army was coming to attack, Yuan Shu couldn't help but panic. He quickly summoned a group of civil and military officials and said, "Liu Xin's army is attacking Xiang'an. I don't know what you can do."
Zhang Xun cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, Xiang'an is the gateway to the southeast of Lujiang River and must not be lost. Your Majesty, please send troops to rescue as soon as possible."
Lejiu stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the troops in Lujiang are currently empty. The top priority should be to order Liu Bei and Ji Ling to return to their respective armies, with the priority of protecting Lujiang."
Yuan Shu couldn't help but frowned. He still had more than 200,000 troops under his command, but 100,000 were dragged in Shouchun, 60,000 were taken to Runan by Liu Bei, and now there are only 30,000 stationed in Lujiang. There are indeed some
Overstretched.
When I was in a dilemma, a man suddenly stumbled in from outside the door. He knelt down with a thump and kowtowed repeatedly: "The enemy's army is so powerful that I can't resist it. Xiang'an is lost. Please ask your majesty."
Forgive me..."
Yuan Shu took a closer look and saw that the man's helmet had long since disappeared, and there was still an arrow stuck in his left shoulder. It was Xiang'an guard Liang Gang. He couldn't help but said angrily: "Liang Gang, since you have lost Xiang'an, why don't you order Lujiang?"
The door is wide open, how come you still have the nerve to see me? Someone is here, push Liang Gang out of the palace gate, behead him in public, and enforce the law!"
General Yang hurriedly advised: "Your Majesty, please calm down. Now is the time to employ people. You can spare Liang Gang's life and order him to serve his crime well."
Yuan Shujing was still angry after General Yang advised him like this. He waved his hand and said, "For the time being, Liang Gang will be exempted from the death penalty. He will be given twenty punishments and thrown into prison."
When Zhang Xun and others saw this, they all looked at each other in shock. Yuan Shu had become somewhat unscrupulous in his actions since he became emperor. Now they are also wary when facing Yuan Shu, and they really have a sense of accompanying the emperor like a tiger.
Seeing that all the generals lowered their heads and remained silent, Yuan Shu snorted coldly and said, "Zhang Xun, now that Xiang'an has been lost, do you have any good strategies for retreating from the enemy?"
Zhang Xun couldn't dodge, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "Your Majesty, I believe that the only way to protect Lujiang is to mobilize the people to strengthen the city defense, and to mobilize Runan at the same time, and to reverse the right and wrong and return reinforcements from both sides."
General Yang smiled and said: "Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. I wonder if your Majesty still remembers how Liu Xin became the governor of Hejian back then?"
"Liu Xin was just a villager back then, and he only relied on his status as a Han clan clan member..." Yuan Shu was in Luoyang City back then, and he had heard a little bit about how Liu Xin became the governor of Hejian.
I couldn't help but recall it, and suddenly I was stunned. After a while, I said, "I almost forgot about this matter unless Yang Aiqing reminded me. Yang Aiqing, I will leave this matter to you. I want to see how Liu Xin does it."
Come and attack Lujiang City!"
General Yang glanced at Zhang Xun and others proudly, then raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I think what General Zhang said is very reasonable, and I also ask your Majesty to bring back the two troops and horses, just in case."
But Yuan Shu shook his head and said resolutely: "No! Ji Ling has been besieging Shouchun City for more than a month, and we can attack it overnight. How can we waste all our efforts? I have the national jade seal in my hand, and I am today. Who does Liu Xin mean to me?
Why should we be afraid? Just send someone to inform Liu Bei and let him return to the army for the time being."
In fact, even if Yuan Shu wanted to mobilize Ji Ling to come back, it would be too late. At this time, the 60,000-strong army of the Fifth Army led by Gao Shun and Guan Yu had already crossed the border and entered Jiujiang. They attacked several cities and approached Yuan Jun's camp outside Shouchun City.
.
Liu Xin knew that with Guan Yu's ability, he could stand alone. However, Guan Yu had some flaws in his character. In addition to his high vision, he was also a bit headstrong. These traits are sometimes harmless, but in some cases they may be fatal.
A country is easy to change, but nature is hard to change. Liu Xin thought that she had no ability to change Guan Yu's character weaknesses, and could only restrain Guan Yu's behavior through strict military discipline. Therefore, even if Guan Yu could be appointed under special circumstances based on his ability, Liu Xin would only let him
He served as Gao Shun's deputy. Guan Yu felt a little guilty for letting Liu Bei go last time, so he didn't have much objection to this arrangement.
Although on the way to escort Mi Zhu's family to Xiangyang, there was a battle between Gao Shun and Guan Yu. It was that battle that allowed Gao Shun to see Guan Yu's martial arts, so he was very relieved to let Guan Yu take charge of attacking Jiujiang.
Guan Yu was the vanguard. Guan Yu was eager to make a contribution, so he broke into Jiujiang before Liu Xin's attack order was issued, so he was so quick.
Due to the heavy casualties suffered during the siege, the soldiers appeared exhausted and their morale was also hit to a certain extent. Ji Ling had to temporarily stop the attack and resorted to siege tactics. At this time, Liu Xin came
Ji Ling did not dare to neglect the news of the invading army, so he divided his troops in half and handed them over to Lei Bo. Chen Lan continued to besiege Shouchun City, and he brought 50,000 horses to greet him.
Not far away, they collided with the 10,000 forward troops led by Guan Yu, who set up their formation twenty miles east of Shouchun City. Ji Ling deceived Guan Yu and charged forward with force. Guan Yu was about to make a meritorious deed.
, who was not willing to let go of this opportunity, and immediately sent his troops to meet him, and started a fierce battle.
Ji Ling was the most powerful general under Yuan Shu. He relied on his martial arts and rushed forward with three pointed and two blades, cutting down several Han soldiers one after another.
According to the latest military order issued by Liu Xin, the general is not allowed to rush forward and fight the enemy one-on-one. However, seeing this situation, Guan Yu still couldn't hold back, and rushed forward with a wave of his sword, fighting with Ji Ling. The two of them fought.
After about fifty rounds, the outcome was still undecided, but Ji Ling could already feel a slight numbness in both arms.
Ji Ling couldn't help turning his head to look around him, and couldn't help but be shocked. In fact, in Ji Ling's heart, he was still quite afraid of the Han army. He just wanted to fight because of his large number of soldiers. Who would have thought that he
Facing the Han army's 10,000 men, the 50,000-strong army actually showed a tendency of retreat.
The Han army is far superior to the army that Yuan Shu hastily expanded in the past six months in terms of equipment, training and morale. It has also received special training on how to deal with melee situations. Although the Han army is at a disadvantage in terms of total number of troops,
However, on local battlefields, there is often a strange phenomenon where the Han army defeats the smaller ones with more troops. This is the gap in cooperation between them.
Ji Ling knew that he was no match for Guan Yu, and the soldiers around him could not provide him with support. If he continued to fight, he would probably be in trouble. Ji Ling did not dare to fight, so he made a false slash, turned his horse and left. How could Guan Yu be willing to do so?
Ji Ling threw away his helmet and armor along the way and finally escaped back to the Yuan Army camp outside Shouchun City. Lei Bo, Chen Lan and others hurriedly caught him.
Chen Lan cupped his hands and said: "General Ji, Liu Xin's coming is not a good one. If Liu Yao in the city hears the news and attacks us from both inside and outside, our army will be at a standstill. We might as well withdraw immediately."
After fighting under Shouchun City for so long, Ji Ling had already begun to think about quitting. However, he had followed Yuan Shu for a long time and knew Yuan Shu's character well. He couldn't help but shook his head and said: "Your Majesty has ascended the throne, and you and I have suffered such a terrible fate."
If you are defeated, you will definitely not be tolerated when you return. According to Ji, it is better to go to the stronghold thirty miles west of the city for the time being and wait for an opportunity to make another move."
From the top of the city, Zhang Ying saw Yuan's army rising up outside the city. He also saw a cloud of smoke and dust in the east. In the distance, he could also see several large flags with the Chinese character "Han". He couldn't help but said with joy: "My lord, over there."
But reinforcements have arrived."
Liu Yao looked solemn and sighed: "Now that Liu is alone, where will the reinforcements come from? Let's wait and see first."
When the smoke and dust gradually came closer, it was possible to vaguely see that the approaching army was all dressed in black clothes and black armor. Zhang Ying said: "Look, my lord, those troops seem to be the Jingzhou army."
Liu Yao hesitated and said: "I have no contact with Liu Xin, how could he send troops?"
Zhang Ying thought for a while and said: "The general heard that Liu Xin is also a clan member of the Han Dynasty. Could it be that he helped me just because he shares the same clan as my lord?"
Liu Yao was originally a person who didn't have much opinion, and he didn't have many capable subordinates around him. After listening to Zhang Ying's words, he felt that there was some truth in it, so he couldn't help but ordered: "Quickly, open the city gate, I want to welcome you personally!"
Although Guan Yu pursued Ji Ling all the way, harvesting the lives of his enemies like a god of death, he was blocked by the defeated troops and his speed slowed down.
When we arrived at the foot of Shouchun City, we could see from a distance that the besieging Yuan troops were retreating to the west in a chaotic manner. Captain Yang Fan raised his hands and said, "I'd like to report this to General Guan. Don't pursue the enemy when you are in trouble. The general thinks that we should choose high ground to set up camp."
, I will wait until General Gao’s men and horses arrive before making further calculations. Please give me your instructions, General.”
Guan Yu glanced at Shouchun City, but was surprised to find that the city gate opened slowly. He couldn't help but lift the reins and said in a deep voice: "My lord ordered me to come and take Jiujiang, but it doesn't matter whether it is in Yuan Shu's hands or not."
Liu Yao's hand. If the four gates of Shouchun City are closed, we can only wait for the siege equipment to arrive. Now that the city gates are wide open, why are we still hesitating? Brothers, follow me in!"
Thousands of miles away in Luoyang City, Xu Huang finally received the flying pigeon message from Liu Xin, and immediately mobilized 30,000 elite soldiers. All of them carried only five days of dry food and light clothing, and marched all the way to Runan.
Since Zhang Ning left, Xu Huang has not slept peacefully for a day. Now Liu Xin asked him to send troops to Runan to support Zhang Ning. He breathed a sigh of relief and wished he could fly into Runan City. At this time, in Runan City